Defining freedom — Magnum Photos’ square print sale

1968 was a seismic year of deep societal and political shifts. International issues of freedom from oppression, freedom of speech, political, sexual and religious freedom all came to the fore as student protests racked cities, declarations of independence were made, and in America particularly, the civil rights movement took hold and Martin Luther King was assassinated, while anti-Vietnam War protests strengthened.

Fifty years on, the Magnum Photos June 2018 Square Print Sale examines both the definition of freedom and the legacy of this quest for freedom through the work of Magnum’s photographers. The project includes iconic images that have defined and documented humanity’s quest for freedom over the past 70 years, as well as deeply personal images that symbolize creative freedom.

The selection includes Stuart Franklin’s photograph of Tiananmen Square in 1989, Bruce Davidson and Leonard Freed’s images of the U.S. civil rights movement, Robert Capa’s photograph of the liberation of Paris in 1944, Dennis Stock’s iconic image of the Venice Beach Rock Festival, as well as photographs by Alex Webb, Martin Parr, David Alan Harvey and Cristina de Middel among others.